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The Life of Brindlestar: The Great Ground Shake of Leaf-Bare
Author's note As mentioned in The Life of Brindlestar, an apocalyptic event occurred a few generations before the time in which the main story take place. Said event would forever change the course of history for the Clans. This story is set in an alternate universe; back in the year 2012, the world went through a series of catastrophic natural disasters as predicted by ancient civilizations. Unfortunately for the Clans, their territory lay directly in the path of a record-breaking magnitude earthquake, followed by a tsunami. You will be able to see the destruction through the eyes of young Molepaw, a young Thunderclan apprentice who will do everything he can to save himself and those around him. Maps Chapter 1: A Happy Day :"That was a nice training session today, Molepaw!" said his mentor Birchfall. :"Thank you." Molepaw said modestly, but he could hardly contain his excitement. A couple days ago he was told that if the next training session did well, he would be made a warrior. He was sad though, because his sister, who chose the life of a medicine cat, would still be an apprentice. :When they got back to the camp, he ran straight to the fresh-kill pile and strode of to the apprentice den, ready to boast about today. The other apprentices, Frostpaw, Jadepaw, and Sunpaw, the kits of Cinderheart and Lionblaze, were gossiping. "Hey!" he announced, "Guess what?" :Sunpaw, who was probably the most sarcastic, shrewd, and intelligent cat who probably ever lived, said, "Your going to be made a warrior and you ran here to tell us about it." he said lazily. :Molepaw was shocked, "Way to ruin the fun!" he meowed, and tackled Sunpaw. He swiped his ear playfully, while Sunpaw was kicking at his belly. He put his paws on Sunpaw's legs to hold the steady, he breathed into his ear, "Warrior skill." :"Alright you great lump get off!" he got off and shook his pelt. "While you may be made a warrior tomorrow, us apprentices still need to rest." :He looked into his green eyes. "You're right, I'm sooo sorry." he said sarcastically, imitating Sunpaw's voice. Sunpaw gave him a look, which was a sarcastic one, and laid down to sleep. Molepaw did the same Better make my last night in this den the best. So he got up, went straight in the middle of the den, and flopped down, right on top of Jadepaw. She let out a squeal of surprise, while Frostpaw and Sunpaw smirked. He pretended to be already asleep, and ignored her protests. Chapter 2: The Earthquake :Molepaw got up, way to early, because it was still dark. Jadepaw was asleep, next to Sunpaw. She obviously found out how to get out from underneath him. Molepaw smiled, and was staring around the den, looking at it affectionely for the last time, when it happend. :At first it was a little shake. Molepaw was alarmed. What was that? he asked himself. :Then, out of no where, a jolt that could've knocked down the mountains. Molepaw was flung into the air and he hit a rock, hard. The ground was shaking violently, cracks were forming into the stone wall, and on the ground, cats were screaming, terrified. Trees were swaying out of control. He looked towards the nursery for his mother, Poppyfrost, who was pregnant again, and his father Berrynose, who slept with her mostly every night. He ran, but to his horror, a tree fell onto the brambles that was supposed to be the nursery and the warriors den. He heard many crunching noises, and many screams :Molepaw's mind went numb, but he wasn't sure whether it was because he was sick to his to stomach at what he saw, or because the ground was shaking more violently than before. :"Molepaw! Molepaw! In here!" he turned around and fell on his paws, and looked for the voice. His sister, Cherrypaw, who looked windswept and scared, signaled him to come over to the Medicine Cat den, where a few cats were already taking shelter. Then, he heard a creaking sound, and saw that the many trees were starting to fall. He sprinted towards the den, and looked back, a few warriors escaped the tree falling onto their dens. Blossomfall, Icecloud, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, and Mousewhisker, his uncle, were all running towards the den. :"Hurry! Hurry!" he yelled, looking up at the falling trees. One of them fell and landed behind the running group with a crash. They gave a burst of speed and finally, they made it inside. Along with the newcomers, Hazeltail, who was suffering from whitecough, Jayfeather the medicine cat, and the elders, Sandstorm, Dustpelt, and Longtail. Pieces of rock were falling from the roof of the den. One fell on Molepaw's head, hitting him hard and leaving him dazed. :Then, a split and a screech that had the potential to make the group go deaf. :One of the falling trees landed onto Highledge, which split in half, and fell onto the unlucky soul who was running away. The other half landed onto the stonewall, which split into many pieces, and with a thunderous roar, fell onto the already broken dens and into the clearing. The ground was still shaking, but not as violently, but still enough where it can knock anyone off their paws. And with a final crash, a tree fell right in front of them, blocking the entrance to the den. It was over, the shaking had stopped. A deadly silence filled their ears. Chapter 3: The Wave :"Is everyone alright?" yelled the voice of Jayfeather. Only a few cats mumbled in reply. Cherrypaw was attending half the injured. Molepaw lay there, stunned. Many images were swirling in front of his eyes. Two-Thirds of the clan dead in an instant, with that tree falling onto the Warriors and Queens den, and Molepaw witnessed it all. Then the unlucky cat who was crushed by the rock. He thought he saw a flash of a light color under their, but he wasn't sure. :"Do you think we can get out?" asked Sandstorm. It was very packed in there; Many cats were shoulder-to-shoulder. :"I think so, we were lucky we only got leaves and twigs in the way." replied Lionblaze :Once Lionblaze, with the help of Mousewhisker and Dustpelt, cleared the leaves, they all went out into the clearing. It was a wasteland. Bodies lay everywhere. Broken dens, snapped trees, and rubble from the collapse of the stonewall and highledge lay everywhere. He saw the body that was under the rock: It was Firestar. :Shock rippled through the survivors. Sandstorm let out a low wail that gradually grew louder, which echoed the clearing. Icecloud and Hazeltail repeated it, and soon every cat was doing it, in grief for their dead leader. In the distance, Molepaw thought he heard screams from the other side of the lake, and he thought he heard a low rumble, but he wasn't surprised by it, he had enough shock for a lifetime. :They searched for any survivors after the yowls of sadness, but found none. Slowly he searched the nursery, along with his sister. He looked for his mother, and found her. he backed out immediately at the sight, and threw up. He felt cold, especially his paws. My paws...?. He looked down, water was flooding the clearing slowly. He looked to the now barren entrance. A dark wave was coming towards them. :"Wave! Wave! There's a big wave! RUUUNNNNN!" he screamed. He took off, followed by Cherrypaw, up the mountain of trees and rock. The others barely noticed what he said. They were looking at him with confused expressions on their faces. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? THERES A BIG WAAVVE!!! GET UP HERE!!!" he yelled. Icecloud turned around, and screamed at the sight she saw. The wave was getting higher and closer. She streaked up here. The elders were trying to push a feeble Hazeltail up the make-shift mountain. She didn't stir. Finally, they gave up, and with a last glance at her dead body, helped the blind Jayfeather up the mountain. :"No! You go, I'll help him!" roared Lionblaze. On a normal day Jayfeather would've swiped anyone's ears for saying that, but today he didn't care, he just wanted to survive. :The surge was entering the camp. It had to be bigger than the Sky Oak. Molepaw realized he wasn't high enough. :"Were not high enough! Keep running!". The survivors ran, but unfortunately they were so blinded by fear that many took off in different directions. Molepaw stuck with Cherrypaw, and they ran. The wave already filled the clearing, but the rest swept over it. The remaining surge had to be at least 9 Fox-lengths high! :Cherrypaw let out a squeal of terror as they hit a dead end, along with Cinderheart and Bumblestripe. This is it...I'm going to die... : The wave loomed ominously as it hit him. It was like running into the Stone wall traveling at the speed of a swallow. He looked left to him, even though it was blurry, he could see Cherrypaw. She was still alive and swimming frantically. She looked at him; He was barely conscious. He mouthed "Climb the Trees!" and pointed his tail to the nearest group of trees. He floated up to the surface, where his gasps for breath were cut short by the rebound of the wave hitting him. They were level with the branches on the trees. he couldn't find Cherrypaw, Cinderheart, or Bumblestripe. He let out a wail of pure despair, and with all his might dug his claws into the branch, wrapped his tail around it, and crouched low. It worked, every time the rebounds (Which were getting smaller and smaller) washed over him, he didn't move. :Finally, the rebounds stopped, and it looked like a normal lake. But Molepaw was extremely exhuasted. No...! he thought, he just saw a body float through the surface. It wasn't a cats body, it was a Twolegs body. Twolegs would camp here during winter, but that was in Shadowclan's territory. He watched in horror as a whole family of twolegs floated pass. Then he saw something more terrible. A kit, a small kit, probably from another clan, was floating, unconscious. It floated in Molepaw's direction, and it stoppped once it gently hit the branch. :"Cautiously, with his tail, he picked it up and laid it next to him. He felt his heartbeat. But unable to stay conscious any longer, he fell asleep. Chapter 4: Recovery :In the morning, when Molepaw woke up, he saw that the water had receded. He tried to get up, but his fur was soaking wet, and too heave to lift. He knew it; There was only one way down, and it was going to hurt. But their was no other way. He looked down to see how far the drop will be, and he saw the kit. It had to be only 2 moons old, and from the scent, it was from Riverclan. Great Starclan! he thought, He was picked up by that wave at Riverclan and dropped off all the way at Shadowclan? He shook that thought off. :The fall would be fast, since he was heavier. He braced himself, and struggled to unleash his paws around the branch. They were so used to being there that it took over an hour to unleash them. Finally, he fell down, and landed hard with a plop! :He looked around, and realized that he and the kit weren't the only ones there. :He saw the dead bodies of Firestar, Leafpool, Cloudtail, and Brightheart lying near a pile of dead twigs. The elders couldn't escape the towering wave, and he turned his head and found them lying hear the tall oak trees that blocked Molepaw and Cherrypaw. Cherrypaw...Cherrypaw! He saw the body of his sister lying in a neat splayed position, right next to a family of dead Badgers. Making sure that the kit would be alright, he got up (with a struggle), and clumsily staggered over to his sister. First his parents, now his sister? What did I do wrong, Starclan!?. He wailed in his head. Suddenly the body stirred feebly. :"Cherrypaw?" he asked. is voice was hoarse, no louder than a single breath. :"Molepaw? Is that you?" she stirred and tried to get up, but failed. :"Here, rest on my shoulders. Lets find a new place," he meowed gently, "I don't like the sound coming from those badgers. Then there's the kit." he pointed his tail at the kit, who was already sitting up and staring at them. He was no taller than a tail-length :"It's horrible!" Cherrypaw suddenly wailed. "Everyone but us in the clan, dead! Our grandparents dead! Our friends dead! Our Paren-!" :"No! Just-just stop! Please!" he meowed, terrified at the thought that everyone, and everything he knew, dead! :They walked on for quite some time. The whole territory was devastated. Dead prey, cats, twolegs, everywhere. Debris was blocking certain paths they needed to take to get to the place where everyone goes after an emergency, The Island. They agreed that other survivors would be there, and someone who could take back the Riverclan kit. :But the sight that he just saw shocked him more than anything. More than watching his clan die; More than watching highledge be destroyed. :There was a huge and wide scar along the beach. It seemed to start somewhere far into Sun-drown-place, curve along Shadowclan's border, and run through Thunderclan and Windclan. It had to at least be 10 fox-lengths wide. Suddenly, the kit fainted. Cherrypaw immediately came to his aide. She sniffed him and prodded him. Finally he was able to stand up. :"What's your name?" she asked gently. :He took a while to say, finally he managed to squeak "Hazelkit." :"Hazelkit," Cherrypaw said softly, "Your going to need to be a big, strong warrior if you want to continue." :He hesitated, then nodded, "Ok!". They kept walking for a while when they were faced with a predicament. The long scar was too long for any branches to be used as bridges. :"Do you cats need help?" asked a voice, all three of the cats jumped at the voice. There in front of them, was there clan mate Brackenfur. Bruised and butchered, but still walking. Molepaw and Cherrypaw looked at each other, than at him. They were his grandkits. Suddenly, they rushed forward to (do the cat version of) hug him. Cherrypaw was sobbing into his shoulder. "Oh, Grandpa! Pop-P-P-Poppyfrost is g-gone!". He could feel something shudder inside of Brackenfur, as if he wanted to sob, yet he didn't show any sign of emotion towards the news, other than a soft gasp. :"We need to get back to the others." he said finally. He looked over at Hazelkit, who was just staring blankly at them. "Is he with you?", without looking at him, Cherrypaw said "Yeah." Chapter 5: Rebuilding :Brackenfur led them to a small place near the Moonpool. Apparently, the Moonpool had been untouched. He looked at the survivors. They were Spiderleg, Whitewing, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Icecloud, Dovewing, Bumblestripe, and Sunpaw. He stared at all of them. They looked tired out, bruised, and heavily battered. He looked particularly at Sunpaw, who was lying down, his eyes glazed, in between his parents. Dovewing looked up at he new arrivals, then looked back down. Brackenfur got up on a stump and addressed what was left of Thunderclan. :"Everyone! You know what we must do. We must go to the Island-" :But how?" interrupted Spiderleg bitterly, "Theres no way any of us can jump across that opening!". The cats meowed in agreement. :"Which is why we must all pull our strength together, and build a bridge." he stopped, waiting for more interruptions, and continued on. He looked at Whitewing and Spiderleg. :"You two," he flicked his tail at the two, now oldest, warriors, "You were apprentices back in the old forest. You must remember what that twoleg bridge looked like, yes?" they both nodded, "I say that we get a fallen tree big enough to fit across the opening, and lay it across. Then," he looked at Lionblaze, "Your strong enough to swipe all the bark off. All of us must scrape the bark of the top half, to make it flat. Then we get the branches from the top of the tree, and insert it into holes in the wood that you guys," he looked at Sunpaw, Spiderleg, and Dovewing, "Are going to dig. Any Questions?" he looked expectantly at the group. No one made any objections, so they set to work. :It took only ten rabbit hops to find a log big enough, seeing as most of the trees fell down during the earth-shake. But that was the easy part. The hard part was scuplting the bridge. They had to dig their claws into the bark, and pull it all off. Lionblaze seemed to have the easiest job, since he was the strongest. His portion was already done, and he was helping Dovewing with hers. Meanwhile, Cinderheart and Cherrypaw were sent on a herb-hunting mission by Brackenfur. :By sunset, the flattening of the wood was completed. All that was left was for Sunpaw, Spiderleg, and Whitewing to dig their claws deep down into the wood. Lionblaze helped out too. It was a fast job, so by moonrise, they were all done. Brackenfur volunteered himself to walk across it first. He tentatively put a paw on it; it didnt move. So he walkld across it with ease. Lionblaze followed, with Cinderheart at his side. Spiderleg next. Then Whitewing, and Dovewing. Then Sunpaw, and last were the Cherrypaw and Molepaw. Once they were all on the narrow strip of beach they started to walk towards the island. They looked around at the new scenery. The hills of Windclan got higher and more jagged, and there was more of it. Pieces of earth were sticking up all haphazardly everywhere. Then, to the shock of the survivors, the horseplace was completely destroyed. It was replaced by a tall mountain, the size of the old Highstones (except this was covered with grass), and a new hill had grown where the horse stabled used to be. Brackenfur told them all to forget about it, and just keep walking. Usually it would've taken them longer, but it seems that some of the grass land had been swallowed up by the lake, and already marshes were sprouting up were it used to be. :They crossed the now water-filled marshlands onto the island, shaking their fur to get the water off. Thats when they saw the rest of the survivors. Chapter 6: So Close : Molepaw gazed at all the survivors. There were so little of them! Flametail, Tawnypelt, Olivenose, Starlingheart, Tigerheart, and Russetpaw for Shadowclan. Ashstar, Heathertail, Crowfeather, Sunstrike, Kestrelflight, and Furzeflight for Windclan. And Mistystar, Mossyfur, Pebblefoot, Minnowtail, Dapplenose, and Mosspelt for Riverclan. :Whitewing looked taken aback, "Th-Thats all? I thought there'd be more!" she wailed. Dovewing padded up to her mother to comfort her. The sruvivors from the other clans looked scared and almost dead looking. Suddenly, Hazelkit broke ranks from the ThunderClan cats. :"Mossyfur! Pebblefoot!" he squeaked happily and scampered off towards his parents. They looked up, and their depressed looking eyes brightened with shock and joy. "Hazelkit!" they ran towards each other and pressed close together in comfort. :The surrounding cats watched enviously. Even Molepaw felt jealous. At least there''whole''family survived. If they didn't find any survivors, then most of the cats there may never do that again. :Molepaw noticed an especially downcast looking brown and white tabby she-kit, who even started to wail right then and there. Mistystar soothed her by gently brushing her tail against her back. :Brackenfur jumped onto the branch and looked down. :"What are we going to do?" he asked the other cats. They didn't respond. Tawnypelt jumped onto the branch too. :"Shadowclan doesn't have a leader anymore." she looked harassed and distressed. Brackenfur shook his head, "Nor has Thunderclan.". He looked expectantly at Ashstar and Mistystar. Ashstar got up. :"Well, Brackenfur, if anyone was to be Thunderclan's leader, I think it should be you. You have the most experience." the cats around her agreed. She turned to Tawnypelt, "Tawnypelt, you also have the most experience, and you and Brackenfur share the trait of having deputy-like qualities." she looked back at the cats. :"Is it agreed that Brackenfur and Tawnypelt shall become Brackenstar and Tawnystar, leaders of the new ThunderClan and ShadowClan?" the Shadowclan and Thunderclan groups nodded slowly, but they looked slightly more cheerful than they were before. A cat interrupted them. :"I don't mean to be rude," said the sneering voice of Crowfeather, "but does that really matter right now? I'' think what is best for us is to find food and shelter, before deciding leaders for ''other clans." he finished. Some of the cats from Riverclan and Windclan nodded. Ashstar looked shocked that her own son and would act that selfish in front of all the Clans. :"Well, excuse me." interrupted a voice of an elderly Riverclan she-cat, "I thought that the survival of All Clans meant that each Clan should survive. How can a Clan survive without a leader?" she narrowed her eyes at Crowfeather, who looked furiously down at his paws. :"...well, in that case...Let's see..." Mistystar meowed, "...Flametail and Cherrypaw are the remaining medicine cats left, since their mentors died. I think that a warrior from each two clans should accompany them to the Moonpool." she scanned the cats, "...Olivenose and Spiderleg, you two can go with your leaders." The six cats left the island. She turned to face the remaining cats, "Now, what I'm about so suggest is very important and very controversial...." :But for some reason, Molepaw found his attention slipping away, his eyes becoming unfocused. And he heard the whispers of at least one-hundred mystified voices. :"Were coming...Were coming..." :"What?" he yelled out loud. His vision refocused, and his hearing sharpened. All the cats were staring at him. Mistystar looked annoyed. :"Yes...Um...Carry on." he said swiftly. :But whatever she was never heard. :It started to shake again, not as strong or as violent, but enough to get all the cats to start screaming again. There was a crack, and Molepaw looked up. There was already a loose branch from the initial shake, and this tremor had made it loose enough to fall off. :The branch was heading straight towards him. "NOOOO!" screamed a voice, but it was too late. The branch already buried him under its unforgiving weight. :He felt excruciating pain in his neck, but he couldn't scream or move. His vision was becoming darker, his breathing becoming more rapid. A flash of gold caught his eyes. Lionblaze was attempting to get Molepaw out. :"Please stay alive, please stay alive!" he pleaded. At last he was rescued from the weight, but it caused Molepaw so much pain that he thought he as going to die. :His vision was already blurry and dark, so he could only, barely, hear Lionblaze. :"No! Please stay awake. You have a sister to protect! You can't die!" the other cats were gathering around, and he noticed another cat lying awkwardly too. :Lionblaze noticed him coming around, and he purred and smiled. :"Yes, say something please say something!" Molepaw grinned, he saw a white tunnel, and two cats were coming to him. :"Ohhhh, I was so close." he breathed heavily, and died. Chapter 7: The New Age :The two cats he noticed coming to him were his parents, Berrynose and Poppyfrost. :"Poppyfrost, Berrynose!" he ran happily towards them, but Poppyfrost looked serious. :"Brackenfur and Cherrypaw are already at the Moonpool, and I must give him a life. You must too." he was shocked that he was about to give a life. Poppyfrost and Berrynose were already turning. :He caught up to his father, "Is-Is that why I died? To give a life to Brackenfur?" he asked him. :Berrynose glanced at him, "Yes, I'm so sorry. But because you died, your life you left behind will go into the leader who will help ThunderClan survive." Molepaw nodded in understandment. :Finally, they reached StarClan's hunting grounds. It was beautiful! But they had no time, they had to get to the ceremony. He met the other cats that would give him his lifes. A pretty white queen with dark blue eyes, Firestar, A honey-colored she-cat, a tom who looked exactly like him, same age and height and everything. Sorreltail, Thornclaw, and finally Brightheart. :"Finally." came the sarcastic comment of the cat who looked like him. Sunpaw would''love''him! :Frostfur gave him a stern look, "Hush, Molepaw. Let's just get going." Molepaw was confused. Same name, age, fur color, and everything? :The cats walked through one by one, into a rock. He was puzzled. He looked at his mother, "Ummm..." :She answered briskly, "Just walk through, nothing will happen." :He braced himself and walked through. He entered a place where it was dark, yet he could see perfectly. All nine cats were circled around a place which was steadily glowing brighter in the shapes of two cats. Finally, Cherrypaw and Brackenfur appeared. Cherrypaw and Brackenstar looked around, and their eyes widened in fear and confusion as they landed on Molepaw. "Molepaw!" Cherrypaw wailed. "Why are you hear?". Molepaw wanted to answer, but something wouldn't let him. He kept trying to open his mouth, but no words came out. He watched as Thornclaw gave him his first life, the life of Courage. He writhed on the floor in agony as the others gave him his lives. :The cat they call Honeyfern gave him the life of justice. Next came the cat who looked exactly like him. "I give you the life of Loyalty, to what you know to be right." Brackenfur fell to his paws and let out a scream. He looked up, "Molepaw, I'm so sorry you never got to live a life with your sisters." he gasped. Molepaw just looked at him, "Yeah, me too. But StarClan is a pretty cool place." and he walked back to the other cats. :Brightheart gave him the life of Tireless energy, and next was the pretty white queen. She gave him the life of protection, as a mother would feel for her kits. He could see that Brackenfur looked as if this one wouldn't hurt, but as soon as the words left Frostfur's mouth, Brackenfur dropped to his kness and writhed in the most severe pain. He got up again. :He could feel that it was his turn now. What do I say? he was nervous, but something kept making him walk, and when he opened his mouth, it wasn't even his words. :"I give you the life of mentoring," he said, "Use it well to train the young cats of your clan." he touched noses with Brackenfur, who shook with so much anguish, then he jumped, as if he just recieved of terror so great, he thought he was going to die. Molepaw turned to return to the cats, and he could feel Cherrypaw's sorrowful eyes fixed upon him. :His mother Poppyfrost was next, and she gave him the life of compassion. After that came Sorreltail, who gave him the life of love. Finally, Firestar stepped up to Brackenfur to give him his last life. It was the life of Nobility, Certainty, and Faith. It seemed like Sorreltail's life gave him a false sense of security, becase as soon as Firestar's words left his lips, Brackenfur dropped to the floor, shaking with agony and yowling. Finally it was over. :Firestar continued to talk, "I hail you by your new name, Brackenstar," Firestar declared. "Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of the leader, and StarClan grants you guardianship of ThunderClan, you will need it." There was a twinkling in his eyes as he said it, "Defend it well, care for your young and old; honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity." :"Brackenstar! Brackenstar!" The cats of StarClan announced his name in rich voices that filled the air. "Brackenstar! Brackenstar!" As he was saying his name, he could feel a strange rush of warmth, and a fantastic thought. :The Clans will survive! :The End